newbie needs some help with large containers..

16 years ago

Hi Everyone.. I am mostly a lurker on THS and a local GW forum. We are doing some updating to our landscaping. I wanted to hang planters on either side of the garages and DH didn't like the scale of the hanging planters. Now he thinks he wants some sort of a tree in a pot on either side of the garage doors. (see pic below.) He wants something that will gorw tall - not too tall though.

When you see the house from the road you do not see much of the landscaping. I wanted to bring some color in by the garage so it would look nice as people were coming up the driveway.

Here is a pic of the house from the rd - pardon the wheelbarrow- its the only pic I had at the moment.

{{gwi:27351}}

Here is a closer pic of the driveway and new walkway. the edge of the garage is cut off - we would also be moving the hose reel to make room for a pot.

{{gwi:43856}}

Here is a pic from the other side of the property showing the new landscaping and the garage doors. Also - we removed the railing that you can see and I will be putting containers on the steps. **Also planted new grass in the dirt spot. That was from removing all the dirt for the walkway.

{{gwi:43857}}

Also - with your suggestion of trees/shrubs - what size pot would I need to put them in. tha area gets morning sun til around 2:00 (I think.) I am located in Zone 5 in the Poconos, PA area. So we do get a considerable amount of snow.

After previewing these photos - I am going to have to take some new ones today or tomorrow - everything looks sooo much better now that in the pics. :(

thanks in advance. I am going to continue searching the many many past posts on this forum. I am excited to see what can be done in pots.

roorezzi :-)

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Comments (6)

posiegirl
16 years ago
It's hard to see whether there's enough room on either side of the garage doors for hanging baskets, but I think it's a lovely idea. Trees would be fine too, but I prefer the idea of color there rather than just green. What planting zone are you in? Can you post a closer look of the garage? Here's a hanging basket that could work. You could always change the color.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:2101210}}
elthorpee
16 years ago
Hi Posie,
You mentioned this was for impact from the road, I believe you will have to go with a shaped conifer. It would be "big" enough to be seen from the road. I love color, but unless you are decorating a deck or porch,
Honey,it's size that matters!
Good luck!
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Al, Thanks for the link. I'll read all of that when I have more time. I'm a slow reader to begin with, so you can imagine how long it would take me to read all of that...awhile, but I really look forward to learning about container gardening. I'm glad to hear that I can keep trees and other plants in containers indefinitely. About root-pruning skills...I guess I don't really have any, as I've never really had any need to prune roots. I've heard that in bonsai you prune roots, but I've never done bonsai, so I wouldn't know how they prune the roots, although I wouldn't mind doing at least one plant that way. I think just regular container gardening is all that I'm going to attempt for now (besides my regular outside gardening in the ground). I forgot to mention that I did have my hackberry outside in a one-gallon pot over the winter last year and it was fine in the spring. I put it next to the house and surrounded it with bags full of leaves for insulation. It sounds like I might not have to do that anymore since you said it would need minimal protection. I'm not getting it out from its nestled-in-again position now, but I mean for following winters I guess I wouldn't need to do that, right? I didn't exactly know what you meant though. That's good that myrtles can be kept in pots over the winter. Last year I didn't quite trust it outside over the winter so I brought it into our laundry room until it was warm enough to move the pot back outside. The plant is about 1-1/2 feet tall and in a 3-gallon pot. I wish I could leave it in that indefinitely. My problem with moving things is that I have a bad back and so once I have them in a pot (especially if I have to get pots that are bigger than 3 gallons...I can barely lift those with potting soil and a plant in them) I wish that I could keep them in a permanent location in that pot and not have to move them...or maybe that's asking for too much. Oh, and I don't know how long it takes myrtles to bloom, but the one that I brought inside last winter didn't bloom at all in the spring or summer. It's a little cooler in our house than it is in the rest of the house, but it's nowhere near like being outside; it's probably 55-60 there for the plants that I have there now. I started crepe myrtles from seed last year and want to plant them outside this year. I won't hold my breath for them to bloom this year though because they're inside like the bigger one was last winter (but now it's outside against the house and surrounded by leaves just like the hackberry and a few other plants are. I will also have to read up on how to prune myrtles. Wow, I have a lot of reading to do! I do want to learn how to do these things though. Cathy
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Welcome to GardenWeb, Mary! I grow a lot of roses in pots. They do just fine so don't worry about that. I've had every thing from minis to climbers in pots and you just have to size the pot for the eventual mature size of the plant. But for the most part a standard size rose will be fine in about a 20 gallon pot. With most minis you can go a little smaller, 10 to 15 gallon pots. You don't say where you are at the moment but I think that in almost any climate those tiny plugs would start out best in the 1 gallon pots. I've found that if I plant them right away into big pots they don't seem to do as well. They sort of just sit there growing roots to fill up the big space with not much top growth. And here that means they don't winter as well. Once they get to a bigger size in the gallon pots they do better in the bigger pots. Hope that helps!
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elthorpee
16 years ago
Sorry Roo! sorry posie too. I mixed up the "who to send to" part. I was responding to Roo's question re what to add to garage impact.
marquest
16 years ago
It is hard to have many things in pots in our zone that will survive our winters. I think you are looking for year round interest. Below is what worked for me on the ground against the house in pots.

Daylilies (Good Summer Color)
Conifers (evergreen)
Hostas (A good Color and fragrant flower is Fragrant Bouquet)
Iris
Oriental bulbs, Asiatic Bulbs, Spring Bulbs (Spring, Summer)

I put some trellis in pots with Clematis. Of course for instant color and you would not have to wait for a flower is Coleus and I kept 3 Huecheras last winter in pots.
sooth
16 years ago
Roorezzi,

Your husband has a good idea. It'd be really tempting to try dwarf Ginkgo trees (I think they'll stay under six feet max; aka dwarf Maidenhair) in pots --maybe three of those, one on each side of the garage and then one placed on that far back corner of the house (can be seen in the first photo; it'd make visual sense when first driving up to your home or viewing from the street). Nice, quiet, but giving a strong foundational presence; using larger sized planters, possibly those whiskey or wine barrels which are cut in half for containers (search for and invest in ones that are supposed to hold up to the elements longer for your area). I think they would last and last. Then, for side notes, accent plants in pots of a little bit smaller size could be added strategically for a sweet, seasonal, and cheerful welcome.

You could still hang planters, too; if wanted....even by standing shepherd hooks on either side of the front door porch, if you were thinking about a good balance that would also direct-the-eye.

I haven't grown any Ginkgo, ever, and I am certainly the opposite of expert. But they're so pretty, unexpected, and adaptable...rumored as bug/disease resistance; that's why I said it'd be tempting to try, though betting it'd be way, way too much heat/humidity here. Also, I think it's the male trees which are more desirable for purchase. Not sure of the exact lowest cold hardy zone but thinking it is okay for within yours. Click Here for a nice general idea article written about Ginkgo (sometimes spelled "Ginko" --without the second use of the letter 'g').

And if it were possible, I'd plant a Celestial Dogwood tree or two or three (just kidding about that, lol!)---planted in a large bedding away from being too close to your home but still super sweetly anchoring the left side of house in the front yard area---all because of their beauty! It's a hybrid, supposedly better at resisting bug/disease than regular Dogwood. Keep in mind with me being the opposite of expert, I'm not sure of their cold hardy zone, just know it's too hot for too long for a Celestial to survive in this part of Florida. Gosh, Roorezzi, they're so pretty!

Good luck to you...everything looks really nice in the photos...especially the cute puppy, lol ... :o)
sooth
16 years ago
I'm just head over heels in love with your sidewalk!

newbie needs some help with large containers..

Comments (6)

posiegirl

elthorpee

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